Transforming the communities of Essex & East London through Christ’s presence

Clergy & Ministry Vacancies

Volunteer Charity Development Officer

Location: Diocese of Chelmsford

The Essex Clergy Charity (shortly to be renamed to better reflect its scope and its purpose) is inviting expressions of interest for a development officer to join the secretary (Martin Wood), assistant secretary (Simon Law) and treasurer (Paul Greenland) as an officer of the charity

The Charity exists to alleviate hardship among licensed ministers in the Diocese of Chelmsford (all of which was in Essex when the charity received its charter in 1747)

We give grants under a variety of circumstances

To licensed ministers at various stages of life: the birth of a child, retirement and at the death of clergy whose last post was in the diocese (these are fixed-sum grants)

Means-tested grants to help families with e.g. school uniforms, school trips, travel and accommodation for interviews at universities, etc. (open to apply for each summer)

To the widows of clergy (whose last post was in the diocese) who receive a small gift each Christmas

The archdeacons distribute grants at their discretion (e.g. to help families go on holiday)

To assist in emergencies

We assist the single as well as the married, the self-financing as well as those on the Church Commissioners’ payroll, the inner city as well as the rural ministers of our Diocese.

The development officer post is new, so we want to keep the job description as flexible as possible.

Broadly speaking, we are looking for someone who can help us

In being an ambassador for the charity across the diocese

In helping devise a strategy to raise the £20k that we currently take out of capital each year

In rebranding the charity once the changes to name and purpose have been put into effect

In terms of time-commitment, that would be very much up to whoever takes up this post.

The only fixed meetings are the trustees meetings (four times a year), the officers meetings (in between the trustees meetings), the AGM (in October) and a meeting with the archdeacons in January – and it is recognised that, sometimes, other commitments will mean that a meeting cannot be attended